The present invention relates generally to wireless communications devices, and particularly to portable consumer electronics devices that adapt their functionality to a user's experience level.
Consumer electronics devices, such as cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), are extremely popular with a large majority of the population. These devices are typically rich in functionality that allow users to engage in two-way voice communications, send and receive text messages and email, play games, take pictures, and browse the Internet. Many consumers use these devices every day, and thus, are savvy enough to quickly and easily learn new functionality. Many others, such as older people and the very young, are not. These varying levels of user experience can be problematic.
Inexperienced users, for example, may be tentative about using some features because they lack the understanding needed to operate them. Such features may therefore remain unused even though the user paid for them with the purchase of the device. Likewise, unused or seldom used features take up precious resources. The software needed to operate unused features, for example, remains in an uncompressed state in memory. Battery power may be expended maintaining features that are unused or seldom used. Service providers are also affected in that they cannot sell services to users who lack the understanding to operate functionality in their devices. Thus, a potential income stream is lost or unrealized.